Car-fender.



J. B. BERNIER.

GAR FENDER.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 20, 1910.

1 MT m 0 m s yT um w m n e t a P X64 TTORA/EY.

LVVEVTORJ/ IVJTNESSES:

J. B. BERNIER.

CAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20, 1910.

Patented May 10, 1910.

2 SHEETS-8HBET 2.

I 6. WITNESSES; W INVENTOR.

' ATTORNEY.

: 13 STATES PATENT OFFICE.

-- JEAN B. IBERNIER, OI LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

CAB-FENDER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 10, 1910, Application filed January '20, 1910. Serial No. 539,160.

any other land vehicles driven by motors carried by such vehicles. I

The principal objects of this invention are to furnish an inexpensive and eflicient means of preventing persons from falling under such vehicles; to adapt the fender to grasp and hold in safety personsof any stature; to operate on persons in advance of such vehicles upon any part of the path of the same with equa acility and safety; to facilitate moving the fender out-of the operative position when not required for use.

In the accompanying drawing on two sheets, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automobile providedwith my improvement; Fig. 2, a plan of the front part of the frame of said automobile showing said improvement attached thereto; Fi 3, a side elevation of the front part 0 the frame and radiator with adjacent parts of said improvement attached to said frame, showing means for holdin the fender at its normal height and of re casing and dropping the same; Fi 4, a central vertical longitudinal section 0 a part of said holding and releasin means; .Fig. 5, a plan of parts of the ho ding and. releasing means; Fig. 6, a front elevation of a part of one of the grippers and of the supportin bar; Fig. 7, a plan of a street-car provi ed with said fender which is show'nin full lines, open or in position for o eration, and in dotted lines, closed or a er operation; Fig. 8, a side elevation of said street-car and'fender, the latter being shown in full lines at its normal height and in dotted lines in its lower position; Fi 9, a horizontal section on the line 9 9 in Fig. 10 of the fender-supporting post and a plan of the stop plate with a part of the fender; Fi 10, a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 9.

A, Figs. 1-3, indicates an automobile; a a the side-rails ofthe frame, these being of cross rail or tie of said frame.

B indicates a square or many sided vertical hollow post or standard, the lower end of which is rigidly secured to the front rail a, at the middle of said rail, the upper end of said post being connected by the arms c 'of a brace-piece C to the frame of the automobile, said arms being united in front to a collar 0 which surrounds and fits said post and the rear ends of said arms being bolted at c 0 to the side-rails a a A horizontal plate D is provided with a vertical perforation d which receives and has a sliding fit on the post B and allows said plate to be raised up to the collar 0 of the brace-piece, the position usually occupied b said plate, Where it may be held by a bel crank shaped catch-lever E, pivoted in the hollow post B on a pin 6 which is represented as passing also through said collar 0 and as retaining said collar on said 0st. The

lower arm 6 of said catch-leverE as a hook.

e which reaches through a ,hole I) .in said post B to engage a notch in the inner wall of the perforation d.

The upper arm-e of the lever E is nearly horizontal and is connected by a link 6 to an arm f which rojects from a sleeve F arranged to' turn reely on the front rail 0, between the post B and the side-rail a, and another link f connects another arm f on said sleeve F to one arm 9 of a bell-crank lever Gr, pivoted on said side-rail a, while the other arm 9 of said lever G is connected by a link 9 to the lower arm 72. of a lever H, pivoted in the body of the automobile, so that when the upper arm 71- of, said lever H is pressed forward, as by the foot of the o erator, the hook e will be-drawn out of t e notch d and allow the unsupported plate D to fall. When the pressure 15 removed from the lever H, said lever is restored to position by. the expansion of the spring k and causes the hook e to project from the post. The underside of said hook e is beveled at e from its point downward so that when the late D is again raised sufiicient-ly, said hook is forced into the post until the notch d is high enough to admit said hook which is again forced into engagement by the expansion of said spring 79.

The shank or holder I of the fender (best seen in Figs. 9 and 10) .is pivoted at z to an.

eye-bolt K which passes loosely down through the late D and through a washer i and is retained in place by any usual means as by a key 2? or split pin in such a manner as to allow said shank to be raised into a vertical position or to be swun laterally, the downward movement of saic shank being limited by the plate D on which said shank rests when in operative position and the lateral movement of said shank being limited by upwardly-projecting stops d (Z integral with said plate, The shank is prevented from being slightly raised and swung laterally over the top of the stops, (Z or (Z by an inward projection (1* d on the top of each of the stops which makes the rising of the shank when in proximity to a stop, impossible.

To the shank I 7 (Figs. 2, 9 and 10) which is transversely slotted to form upper and lower uides-z" i are secured between said guides,-the rear ends of two springs i 17,

the .front end of which springs are attached to two grippers 2' 2' jointed at their inner ends, at a, to each other and to a forwardly projecting bar i The front end of the springs i z" are attached to the grippers z? i about one-half of the distance between the joint 71" and the free ends of the same and tend to press the points of such attachment toward each other in such a manner that ifthe joint. 2' is in the rear of a stright line connecting said points, the free ends of said grippers will be thrown forward toward each other, but if said joint is in advance of said line,'said free ends will be kept apart from each other. The end-portions of said grippers are curved forward, as shown in Fig. 2, and rest upon a transverse supporting bar 5 the middle-of which is rigidly secured to the front end of the bare at; right angles therewith and is provided at its ends with stops i 71 which engage said grippers and limit the outward swing of the same, said stops being so arranged that when the grippers are in engagement with said stops the joint 5 will be in advance of the line which connects the points where the'springs i i are attached to the grippersand the grippers will be held open by said springs. The connection of the bars i i is strengthened and stiffened by a .curved brace 2' which connects said bars.

When the bar 2'" strikes and is pushed back by any obstruction, as by a. person standing in the path of the vehicle, the joint 13 is crowded back until the springs close the grippers into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 7, grasping and supporting the person and carrying him alon with the vehicle. The supporting-bar yiel s readily whenit strikes a'person without injury to him and with the grippers may be padded or cushioned with soft material, still further to avoid any injury to person or clothing.

The grippers and the supporting-bar may be made 0 metallic tubing and thus be very light while of sufficient strength. The

swiveling of the shank upon the supporting plate allows the supporting-bar and the grippers to swing laterally to bring them into proper position to operate in the most efficient manner whether the person is in the middle of the path of the vehicle or at one side of the middle.

In Figs. 7 and 8, the invention is shown applied to a street-car A.- The only differences between what is shown in these figures and .what is already described is that in these figures the post B is supported upon brackets a a secured to any sufficiently rigid part of the car and that the fender is held in its highest position by a bell-crank lever H one arm k .of which reaches under the plate D and is withdrawn therefrom by the pressure of the motormansfoot upon the other arm h of said lever, said lever being returned to operative position by a spring corresponding in function to the spring 72, above described. The other parts are like those above described and indicated by like letters of reference.

I claim as my invention v 1. The combination of a pair of springs, means for supporting the rear ends of the same at the front of a vehicle, a pair of grippers each attached between its ends to the free end of one of said springs, said grippers being jointed to each other at their rear ends and adapted to be held open or to be closed by said springs, according as the point of junction-of said grippers is in front of or in the rear of a line connecting the points of attachment of said grippers to said springs, and a transverse bar arranged across said grippers and "connected to said grippers at said junction and adapted when pressed backward to move said oint of junction back of said line connecting said points of attachment.

2. The combination of a pair of springs, means for supporting the rear ends of the same at the front of a vehicle, a pair of grippers eachattached between its ends to the free end of.one of said springs, said grip pers being jointed to each other at their rear ends and adapted to be held open or to be closed by said springs according as the point of junction of sa1d grippers is in front 'of or in the rear of a line connecting the points of attachment of said grippers to said springs, a transverse bar arranged across said grippers, andconnected to said grippers at said unction, and adapted when ressed backward to move said .point of unction back of said line connecting said points ofattachment, and stops carried by said transverse-bar to limit the opening of said -'ppers.

3. he combination of a vertical post, means for securing the same to the front end of a vehicle, a horizontal plate, vertically movable on said post, a shank carried by said plate, springs, each attached at one end to said shank, a pair of grippers, each atrear of a line connecting the points of attached between its ends 'to one of said springs, said grippers having their outer ends curved and their inner ends jointed'to each other, and a transverse bar pivoted to said grippers at their junction and arranged under said grippers. t

4:. The combination of a vertical post, means for securing thesame to the front end of a vehicle, a horizontal plate vertically movable on said post, a shank carried by said plate, springs each attached at one end to said shank, a pair of grippers each attached between its ends to one of said springs, said grippers having their outer ends curved and their inner ends jointed to each other, a, transverse'bar pivoted to said grippers at their junction and arranged under said grippers and having stops to limit the opening of said grippers.

5. The combination in a fender, of a plate, a shank pivoted thereto and normally supported thereon in a horizontal position, but adapted to be raised therefrom, a pair of springs secured to said shank, a pair of grippers each attached between its ends to the free end of one of said springs, said grippers being jointed to each other at their rear ends and adapted to beheld open or to be closed by said springs, according as the point of junction of said grippers is in front or in the rear of a line connecting the points of attachment of said grippers to said springs, and a transverse bar. arranged across said grippers and connected to said grippers atsaid junction and. adapted when ressed backward to move said oint of unctionback of said line connect ng said points of attachment;

6. The combination in'a fender, of a plate, a shank swiveledthereto to have a lateral movement in either direction, stops to limit such lateral movement, a pair of springs secured to said shank, a pair of gri pers, each attached between its ends to the ree end of one of said springs, said grippers being jointed to each other at their rear ends and adapted to be held open or to be closed by said springs, according as the point of junction of said grippers is in front or in the tachment of said grippersto saidsprings, and a transverse bar arranged across said grippers and connected to said grippers at said junction and adapted when pressed backward to move said point of junction back of said line connecting said points of attachment.

7. The combination in a fender, of a shank, means of supporting the same, a pair of springs secured to said shaiik, a pair of grippers, each attached between its ends to the free end of one of said springs, said grippers being ointed to each other at their rear ends and adapted to be held open or to be closed by said springs, according as the point of junction of said grippers is in front or in the rear of a line connecting the points of attachment of said grippers to said springs, and a transverse bar arranged across said grippers and connected to said grippers at said junction and adapted when pressed backward to move said point of junctionback of said line connecting said points of attachment, said shank having a transversely-slotted free-end to receiveand support the jointed ends of said grippers when closed.

8. The combination of a vertical post, means of securing the same to the front end of a vehicle, a horizontal plate, movable vertically on said post, a shank carried by said plate, springs, each attached at one end to said shank, a pair of grippers, each attached between ts ends to one of said springs, said grippers having their outer ends curved and their inner ends jointed to each other, a transverse bar pivoted to said grippers at their junction and arranged under said grippers,a catch-lever, adapted to engage said plate and to hold the same in a raised position, and a spring to maintain such engagement.

In witness whereof, I have afiixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JEAN B. BERNIER.

Witnesses:

ALBERT M. Moons, LUDGER A. NIcoL. 

